“I don’t need the money,” announces Sherrock – and wins 600,000 euros

Darts queen beats the two-time world champion: Fallon Sherrock defeated Luke Littler at his mega event “Beat Luke Littler” in Manchester – and collected almost 600,000 euros. The event, which was broadcast on Netflix, saw Sherrock defeat Littler in one leg. Before her, 14 challengers had already failed. As the 15th participant, she finally defeated the 19-year-old darts high-flyer with a 14-darter, throwing a 180 - and could hardly believe her luck.

Sherrock became known to the masses through her victories at the 2020 World Darts Championship. She was the first and so far only woman to win games on the largest darts stage in the world. She beat Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic back-to-back at Alexandra Palace. The success earned her the nickname “Queen of the Palace”.

So now the next sensational success. After triumphing over Littler on Friday evening, her son, born in 2014, stormed onto the stage to hug his mother. Sherrock said with tears in his eyes, "This is amazing. I can't express how much this means to me. And for my son to be there... it was the first time he'd ever been to an event like this and he saw me win."

The concept of the show: Up to 20 opponents could challenge Littler to win a leg and thus win prize money of 501,000 pounds (around 600,000 euros). For comparison: That's more money than the losing finalist at the Darts World Cup gets (£400,000). Only the world champion receives more money with a winner's bonus of one million pounds.

Sherrock's participation caused controversy in advance. The format was actually announced as an opportunity for amateur players. For some fans, Sherrock didn't fit into the picture as a regular World Cup participant and player on the women's tour. However, Netflix announced: Anyone who does not have or has ever owned a PDC tour card is allowed to take part. This applies to Sherrock.

“I don’t need the money,” the trained hairdresser told the Daily Mail during the castings for the show in London. "But I've always said I want more opportunities to promote women's sports and this is the perfect opportunity to do that. Why not do that?"

Jarod Becker loses vote against Sherrock

However, Sherrock's participation deprived a German of the chance of winning big. Jarod Becker was confirmed as a possible candidate, but would have had to prevail in a fan vote. There he was placed against Sherrock of all people. The German darts scene united in support of Becker, and several professionals posted calls to vote for the 23-year-old German. But there was no way to beat Sherrock's huge fan base.